Workshop of Anton Raphael Mengs, Portrait of a Gentleman, 1760, Oil on Canvas

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Anton Raphael Mengs (Aussig, 1728 - Rome, 1779) Workshop

Portrait of a Gentleman

Oil on canvas (135 x 99 cm … Read more Anton Raphael Mengs (Aussig, 1728 - Rome, 1779) Workshop

Portrait of a Gentleman

Oil on canvas (135 x 99 cm - Framed 148 x 113 cm)

Provenance: Arcadia Auction Rome, Palazzo Celsi, March 29, 2023 (as a French painter active in Rome in the 18th century) - link

The portrait of a gentleman presented here is attributable to a Roman school painter active in the 18th century, specifically from the circle of Anton Raphael Mengs (Aussig, 1728 - Rome, 1779).

Portrait painting in the 18th century was experiencing a golden age, transforming from a celebratory genre for the elite to a tool of social affirmation for the emerging bourgeoisie, and Rome, a must-see stop on the Grand Tour, became the cosmopolitan center where international artists immortalized nobles, intellectuals, and travelers.

In this context, Mengs was a key figure in the neoclassical movement, bringing a new quest for truth and formal rigor to portraiture.

The sitter is a young nobleman, depicted seated on a red cushion. He wears a voluminous, curly gray wig, a distinctive sign of social status at the time, and a brown velvet damask dressing gown (often identified as a "banyan") with blue lapels, over a loose-fitting white shirt, lending the work a more intimate and less solemn quality.

He turns toward the viewer with a composed expression and a penetrating, introspective gaze.

The pose of a manly portrait with one hand tucked into his robe, a pictorial convention of the 18th and 19th centuries, signaled a composed posture but, above all, indicated authority, control, and calm, inspired by the behavioral manuals of the time as "virile boldness tempered by modesty."

It was, in fact, a way of expressing self-control and, consequently, dominance over others, typical of the oratory of the era. Although this pose is thought to be Napoleon's invention (the leader was often depicted with his hand hidden in his vest), it was actually a common convention used in many portraits of well-born men even before that.

Continuing our analysis of our canvas, the vase of flowers (peonies and other wildflowers) on the table covered with a red tablecloth overlooking a Mediterranean garden with glimpses of architecture are also common decorative elements to emphasize the elegance of the setting and the status of the subject.

The work fully reflects the eighteenth-century taste for the new vision of neoclassical art, which also embraced portraiture, abandoning the excessive and redundant Baroque aesthetic in favor of a return to the principles of balance and composure. with these principles, Mengs quickly became famous and sought-after, rivaling the older Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787) for the role of the capital's leading painter.

He moved to Rome in 1741 and quickly became an extraordinary portraitist, the highest-paid and most sought-after in Italy and at the European courts of the late eighteenth century, a point of reference for wealthy Grand Tour travelers who wished to visit his studio on Via Sistina to commission their portraits.

The characteristics listed above would confirm the reference to Mengs's style, allowing us to suggest its attribution to an artist from his close circle or one of his many prominent students, whom he had in both Italy and Spain, where he worked for their respective courts.

It is difficult to pinpoint a definitive name, although in Rome, Anton von Maron (Vienna, 1733 – Rome, 1808) was one of his most promising students, maintaining a style close to that of the master.

Good condition, complete with antique frame.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The work is sold complete with a certificate of authenticity and an iconographic . This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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